Marc Forgione's American Cut Hits NYC (INTERVIEW)

When Iron Chef Marc Forgione and LDV Hospitality first unveiled American Cut in Atlantic City a couple of years back, "it was like a first date," says Forgione. "We wanted to see if there would be others. I think the first date went really well. Once that happened, conversation started to be, 'What about trying this to New York?'"

About six months ago, word came that the group was working on securing a lease in Tribeca, the same neighborhood where he owns his eponymous Restaurant Marc Forgione and where he partnered up on Laotian spot Khe-Yo earlier this year. "I'm not trying to take over Tribeca," Forgione insists. "It's just kind of happening, and I'm letting it flow."

And just over a week ago, he debuted NYC's American Cut (363 Greenwich Street, 212-226-4736), an 80-seat restaurant that he says is "almost exactly the same" as the Atlantic City outpost, save for the New York-influenced touches like everything bagels, latkes, and pastrami on the menu. (And he hints at future additional locations of American Cut, even while insisting that nothing is currently in the works, by saying that expanding this restaurant to other cities would mean incorporating touches from those places, too.)

Above all, though, Forgione is attempting to bring his original vision for American Cut here: "I really wanted to bring my flavor and touch to a steakhouse in general," he explains. "I love the quintessential New York Steakhouse. I just wanted to bring something different to the table. We have the classics on there, but we made them a little more fun." He cites dishes like the cornflake crab cake, the OG ceasar salad, and the steak knife wedge salad, all slight variations on the original steakhouse theme. "All these things you get at any other steakhouse, I took pride in making those fun," he says. "If you do research on steakhouses in New York, they were really the first fine dining restaurants in the country. I wanted to bring the fine dining element back."

You will find steak, of course, too--the menu offers wet-aged and dry-aged varieties as well as a tomahawk ribeye for two plus the usual supplementary suspects like salmon, veal, and lamb. And in case any of those aren't carnivorous enough for you, you can add accoutrements like bone marrow and bacon to any dish.

Forgione's menu pairs to a massive red-heavy wine list that pulls heavily from the U.S. Finish your meal off with a cracker jack sundae or an inventive take on apple pie.

As for lessons learned from American Cut that Forgione is transferring here? "I've learned that people like steak," says the chef. "And as in anything in life, we've learned how to make the ball roll, how to work with each other, and how to learn and improve every day."

American Cut is open for dinner nightly. Hit the next page for a few photos.